Tadikonda police have registered a case under Section 194 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), corresponding to the erstwhile Section 174 of the Cr.P.C., and launched an investigation into the suspicious death of 30-year-old Chikati Gopi of Ponnekallu village in Tadikonda mandal.
According to a press release from the office of the District Superintendent of Police Vakul Jindal on Wednesday, Gopi was summoned to the Tadikonda police station on June 25 in connection with a theft case and was released the following day.
His family later noticed that he had developed a fever and took him to the Ponnekallu government hospital. On doctors’ advice, he was shifted to the Guntur Government Hospital and subsequently to the Tenali Government Hospital for further treatment.
He was undergoing treatment at Tenali until August 31, after which he was shifted back to the Guntur Government Hospital. Doctors declared him dead on September 1 after he complained of chest pain.
Following a written complaint from his wife, Jyothi, police registered a case under Section 194 of the BNSS.
Police said rumours were circulating that Gopi had died after being assaulted at the police station. The police said that CCTV footage from the Tadikonda police station had been examined so far and no evidence of physical assault on Gopi had been found.
To ensure an impartial investigation, Medikonduru Inspector M. Madhusudana Rao was appointed as the investigating officer. Police said the inquest and post-mortem procedures were completed and the body was handed over to the relatives.
The investigation is continuing. Police have appealed to people not to believe or circulate unverified information.
